Reproducer.



C. F A. STURTS.

REPRODUCER. APPYLICATION FILED AUG.I.'I9I7.

menm Jan.14,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A TTORNE YS.

' c. F..A. STURTS.

REPRODUCER.

APPLICAHON FILED AUG-1.1917.

Patented J an. 14, 1919.

ATTORNEYS.

but

l"; i PRODUCER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 1, 1917. serial No. lmfltt.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, CHARLES F. A. S'rUR'rs, a citizen of the United fitates, residing at the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Reproducers, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to a reproducer for recording or transmitting articulate and musical sound vibrations from the record of a talking machine.

One of the objects of the present invention is to produce and preserve the vibrations peculiar to articulate speech and musical sounds to the exclusion of metallic and discordant sounds produced by scratching or frictional efiects in phonographs, and particularly to produce a softer, purer and more natural tone than has heretofore been possible. Another object of the invention is to provide a novel mounting for the needle holder and the stylus bar, and also a construction which permits the reproducer to be used either on a vertically cut record, such as the Edison type, or a laterally out record, such as the Victor or Columbia. Further objects and advanta es will hereinafter appear.

he invention consists of the parts and the construction andcombination of parts as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accom panying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan view of a phonograph, showing the application of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the reproducer.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 8-3 of Fi. 2.

ig. a is a rear view of the reproducer.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the same.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the styl holder.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the bearing plate.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the stylus a.

Referring to the drawings in detail it. indicates, no general, the housing 0' a phonograph, in which is inclosed a spring motor, a governor and other mechanism necessary for its operation. 2 indicates a turntable, 3 a disk record, a a tone arm which is mounted in a swivel connection 5 of the usual construction, 6 a goose-neck connection, and 7 the re roducer which forms the subject-matter o the present application. Y

The reproducer or the sound box proper consists of a casing 8, in which is mounted a diaphragm 9. fiuitably secured at one end to said diaphragm, as at 10, is a stylus arm 11, on the opposite end of which is formed a head plate 12 which is provided Patented Jan, ff, a

for the reception of a stylus holder 13. The

construction of the stylus holder and the arm ll, to ether with the mountin of same with relation to the casing of t e sound box, forms one of the most important features of the present invention.

The sound box shown in the present instance is preferably'constructed of fiber, or other like material, and is provided at its lower end with two perforations for the reception of dowel pins, such as shown at it, These dowel pins are perforated and threaded for the reception of screws 15 and, therefore, serve as holders for the stylus arm and .holder 13, as will hereinafter be described.

Held against the 8, which is for,

lower end of the casing flattened to form a seat thereis a bearing plate 16, the center portion of which is cut out, as at 17, and provided with a pair of alined and oppositely disposed, V-shaped seats 18. ,llnterposed between said plate and an outer clamping plate 19 is a fiber plate 20, and secured to the fiber plate approximately centrally thereof, by means of a pair of screws 21, is the stylus holder 13 and the head 12 of the stylus arm 11. The screws pass through an outer base plate 23, the fiber plate 20, the head 12, and then extend into a threaded clamping plate 22 which permits the parts to be rigidly clamped together.

The stylus holder consists of the head 13 shown and a base section 23, on the inner face of which is formed a pair of V-sha ed lugs 24: which engage the seats 18 forme in the bearing plate. These lugs serve as rocker bearings for the stylus holder and arm and thereby permit all vibrations reduced by the disk record to be transmitte through the holder 13 and the arm 11 directly to the diaphragm. The fiber plate is so thin that it affords comparatively little resistance to the transmission of the diaphragm vibrations, and, as both the plate and the casing are constructed of fiber, it can readily be seen that metallic vibrations and discordant tones produced thereby can be practically eliminated. The fiber plate is otherwise rectangular in shape and forms a continuous-piece, the only cutaway portions of the fiber disk being two perforations 25 through which the V-shaped lugs 24 extend.

The clamping plate 19, securing the several parts in position, is centrally cut out, as shown particularly in Fig. 5, each end being provided with two clamping lugs 26 and an inwardly extending lug 27 through which the screws 15 pass. This plate is, therefore, in itself flexible and may move more or less in unison with the fiber plate when vibrations are being transmitted. The whole attachment, comprising the bearing plate, the fiber disk, the clamping plate 19, the arm 11 and the holder 13 are in this manner assembled and connected to the casing in a substantial and simple manner 'WlthOllt requiring special adjustments, tension springs, or other connections.

It can, furthermore, be seen that any delicate adjustments are entirely obviated and that the employment of the metallic dowels 15 permits the screws to 14 provided for the reception of the screws be rigidly secured without danger of the threads giving away or pulling out of the material particularly when fiber or .the likeis employed in the construction of the casing 8. The holder 13 is otherwise provided with a screw 29 and a recess for the reception of the stylus or needle 27 and it maybe employed either in connection with a vertically cut record of the Edison type or a laterally cut record, such as is employed by the Victor and Columbia machines, the position of the reproducer when playing a laterally cut record being shown in full lines in Fig. 1, while the position assumed when playing a vertically cut record is shown in dotted lines, it being necessary in the latter instance to employ an additional goose-neck connec- One of the main objects of the present invention is to avoid every chance possible of setting up metallic vibrations or of producing the same in the first instance. This is the main reason for providing the fiber plate 20. With this object in view an insulating gasket 30 has been provided which may be lnterposed between the goose-neck 6 and the casing 8 when the reproducer is attached to the tone arm. Interposed between said gasket and the tone arm is a split tension formed therein in register w1th scribed, deadens and reduces transmission of metallic vibrations and sounds between the diaphragm and the stylus.

Another feature of the present invention is the employment of a weight 33. This weight is ring-shaped and one side is beveled, as at 34, to permit the secondary gooseneck extension 6 -to be employed (see Fig. 1). The weight is only employed where the sound box is constructed of fiber or other similar light material but may otherwise be dispensed with. The weight is also insulated from the casing of the sound box and the tone arm by providing a rubber ring or gasket 35.

The reproducer or sound box as a whole is simple and substantial in construction and as all delicate adjustments and tension springs are entirely eliminated it can readily be seen that the chances of setting up or 85 transmitting metallic or other discordant tones is reduced to a minimum.

The materials and finish of the several parts of the device may be such as the experience and judgment of the manufacturer may dictate.

and minor details of scope of the appended claims, and that I do not wish to limit myself to the specific design and construction here shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with the casing of a reproducer and the diaphragm, of a connected stylus holder and arm, an elongated flexible non-metallic member rigidly secured at each end to the casing, means for rigidly securing one end of the stylus arm to the center portion of the flexible non-metallic member, and means for securing the opposite end of the stylus arm to the diaphragm.

2. The combination with the casing and the diaphragm of a reproducer, of a bearing plate positioned at one end of the easing, a flexlble plate supported by the bearing plate, a clamping plate exteriorly of the flexible plate, screws passing through each 1 end of the clamping plate and the before mentioned plates to secure the same to the casing, a stylus arm secured at one end to the diaphragm and at the opposite end to the flexible plate, and a stylus holder also secured to the flexible plate in alinement with the stylus arm.

3. The combination with the casing and the diaphragm of a reproducer, of a hearing plate ositioned at one end of the casing, said aring plate having a pair of alined bearing seats formed therein, a flexible plate supported by the bearing plate, said flexible plate havin perforations the bearing 13c seats,a clamping plate screwing the flexible plate and the bearing plate'to the casing, a stylus holder secured to the flexible plate having a pair of. rooker'hearing lugs formed 5 thereon which extend through the perforations in the flexible plate to engage the seats in the hearing plate, and a stylus arm sediaphragm in a reproducer of a flexible er and at he combination with a oasingand a plate, a stylus holder andfarm secured to said plate and to the diaphragm, a clamping plate secured to the casing and a plu- 15 ralit of lugs on said plate engaging the flexi le plateto secure it to the casing;

' In testimony whereof I have'hereunto set m hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. A. STURTS Witnesses: e 4

- Joan H. HEWNG, 

